


A Call From The Heavens.

by starktower



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, Bittersweet Ending, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-10 04:02:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14729576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starktower/pseuds/starktower
Summary: Post Avengers infinity war.Tony and nebula went after Thanos and won.It's time to fix everything, whatever the cost may be .Bonus Chapter 2 / Thor goes to Titan to bring back the stranded heroes back home.Bonus Chapter 3/ Steve Reunites with Bucky.Bonus Chapter 4/ a Two year jump, what happened to each character. (Hope you enjoy this last addition)Bonus Chapter 5/ Tony is finally happy in his new life, but will it last





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't Own anything. 
> 
> All the mistakes are my own. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this story.

 

 

 

 

***Beep***

 

**Incoming call.**

**Location: Unknown.**

 

***Beep***

Shuri nodded at her general.

“Accept the call,” said Okoye warily as she looked around at the people in the room with her.

A bloody and worn out Tony came into view on the holographic display of the Wakandan Room, shocking all the people present.

Several shouts of his name rose from different people around the table but tony didn’t so much as react, he kept looking at them with a forlorn sense of loss, eyes filled with unshed tears and unshakable horror, his eyes drooped a little bit bringing everyone to a pause.

“Tony?” asked Steve disbelievingly.

Hearing his name Tony seemed to snap out of his trance-like state, as he looked at them with more sharpness than there was before, he looked at each one of them before his gaze settled on Rhodey.

“Hey buttercup, glad to see you weren’t a character in ‘Gone with the wind,’” Said Tony with a broken rough voice, joke falling flat.

Rhodey up to that point had been dead silent, eyes wide, hands tight over his mouth, eyes glassy.

“Tones” he said before he doubled over and started laughing hysterically closing his eyes in the process, a couple tears escaping and streamed over his dark cheeks.

“Sorry couldn’t resist getting into the FunVee. Again” added the genius with a wistful smile.

Rhodey stood up straight again and wiped the tears away as he chuckled.

“Yeah, well you were always a stubborn bastard,” said Rhodey smiling a full-blown smile, something he had not done since Thanos.

Tony shrugged “Trade mark, mon pain au chocolat”.

“Are you in our Spaceship?” asked Rocket finally noticing the background behind the beaten up human.

The Rodent looked so hopeful.

But it quickly disappeared at the man’s expression.

“Who?” asked Rocket, already dreading the answer.

Thor’s large hand came on the raccoons much smaller shoulder. “Rabbit” he said cautiously, But the latter only shrugged the hand and asked more forcefully “ _Who_?”

Tony sighed and closed his eyes at the image of all of them disintegrating.

_‘Mr. Stark I don’t feel so good’_

He looked at Rocket directly, he deserve that much consideration at least.

“Quill, Drax, Mantis”

Rocket closed his eyes and brought his paws over his ears.

“No, no, no, no” he started mumbling.

“What about Gamora? You didn’t mention Gamora, is she still there?” he asked desperately.

Tony shook his head.

“According to Nebula, he sacrificed her to get the soul stone”

The other people in the room cursed, even though they had never met the woman or the other guardians, they had heard of them from Thor and Rocket, and they felt each of their deaths too.

“Nebula is there?”

Before Tony could reply, Shuri interrupted.

“Where is _there_ , exactly. You are communicating with us so you shouldn’t be that far away from earth, but we can’t detect your ship anywhere near it,”

Tony looked at her.

“That’s because we’re not, princess shuri. We’re in an exoplanet in the Centaurus A galaxy”

Shuri did not address the princess comment, not wanting to dwell even further on the implications. “Centaur- that’s _Billions of light-years away_ ” she said wide eyes.

The others looked at each other confused trying to see the accuracy of the _‘billions of light years away’_

“Tony, why?” asked a stricken Bruce. “What the _hell_ are you doing so far away?”

Tony’s eyes became cold at that moment and smiled a terrifying smile full of teeth.

“Nebula and I went after Thanos,” he said and chaos followed.

“You _what_?”

“Tony are you _crazy_ ”

“That was foolish of you Stark”

“Oh god”

“Of course you did”

“Enough” commanded Shuri looking every bit the queen that she had unfortunately had to become, before she looked at tony once again.

“Did you find him?” she asked voice dangerous.

Tony nodded.

“Yeah, Nebula is chopping his dead body into little pieces outside” he said nodding his head sideways as a vague direction to where Nebula was.

“Apparently it’s _cathartic_ , daddy issues and all, but hey, who am I to judge”

Silence followed that statement.

Clint broke the silence this time.

“Are you telling us that you killed Thanos?” asked with a disbelieving hope.

Tony nodded.

“I made _sure_ of it”

The others looked at each other with meaningful looks, _it was over_ , and maybe now they could finally mourn their lost ones.

“That’s not all is it; you wouldn’t have called just to tell us that, not from that far away at least” Exclaimed Natasha.

Tony looked at her and tilted his head appreciatively “Always the perceptive little albino spider. What’s with the Tilda Swinton look anyways?”

Natasha only reaction was a fond little smile.

“I have a mission for you guys,” he said not waiting for an answer.

“What kind of mission?” asked Steve, finally getting the nerves to speak directly to Tony.

“A rescue mission, captain. I already sent you the coordinates, you’ll go and retrieve the guardians, doctor strange and Spiderman from Titan.”

“What are you talking about?” said Bruce “I thought you said they were dead”.

“Oh they are, but not for long” he retorted before raising his right hand that had been out of shot until now, and what they saw made all of them gasp.

The Gauntlet.

Tony was wearing Thanos’s gauntlet.

The golden gauntlet that had the six stones all over it.

“Holly shit, you crazy son of a bitch.” whispered Rhodey.

“You know me Babe; it’s always go big or go home with me.”

“If- _when_ this will work, people will start reappearing in roughly the same positions from where they had disappeared, it’s like a slingshot, they disappeared so abruptly and unnaturally that they left a trace in their wake. And now that they’ll be released from their premature deaths, they’ll snap back in the general vicinity of their disappearance, and since the team that I was with died on titan, I need you to go get them”.

Treacherous hope flooded the room.

Gasps and prayers travelled throughout the room.

“Tony, can you _really_ do that” 

Tony nodded confidently

“Yeah, I can. So do I have your word you’ll go get them?”

“You have my word Anthony, I’ll bring them to earth as soon as you will them to life again, and with Storm Breaker it will be an easy task” promised Thor solemnly.

Tony looked at the Asgardian, taking in the new state he was in, he no longer had a mane over his head and the weapon he was carrying was definitely not Mew-Mew.

“Hey point break, Mantis told me what happened to Loki and your people, I am sorry buddy, if I can do it I’ll bring them back too. I can’t promise it will work, but I’ll try, so as soon as you bring the others, go back to the last place you saw your people, You know- _just in case_ ”.

Thor looked ready to cry from the sheer hope that is coursing through his hardened body.

The God of Thunder could not speak; he did not think words could ever convey the magnitude of the gesture and the faith that he gave him, so he nodded once and willed tony to see the gratefulness in his expression.

“But how? How could you know that this will work, that this will bring our lost ones back from death” asked Okoye, she had been silent throughout the exchange, but the notion that they could have their people back, their _king_ back, was too great to not wanting to confirm its solidity.

“Because I can feel them,” Tony simply said drawing several sharp gasps from the avengers and the queen, but he only pushed on.

“Since the moment I put on the gauntlet, I could sort of feel them, it’s-it’s overwhelming. I think they can feel me too, because it feels like they are trying to reach to me but they cannot, it is as if they are stuck somewhere in a limbo state, between life and death, and I think- no I know that’ll be able to free them and bring them back to the living world”

Bruce frown had only increased as Tony barreled on his explanation.

“I-I don’t understand, the energy that’ll course through the gauntlet is unqualifiable, it would surely destroy you” and from the way Tony looked away Bruce finally dawned on him.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Tony what is he talking about?” asked Rhodey dread painting his deep voice.

“What I meant Colonel is that Tony over here knows that wielding that gauntlet and using it will literally destroy him out of existence completely, what he’s doing is a suicide mission” he finished voice cold and eyes hard.

“Tony?” jumped in Steve, face horror stricken.

“I am sorry guys, it’s the only way, believe me if there was any other way I would’ve taken it, contrary to popular belief I _don’t_ have a death wish, certainly not when I have-had a wedding to get to.” Tony’s voice cracked at the last bit.

“There has to be another way” jumped In Clint, he and Tony hadn’t parted in the best of terms, and after cooling down and a lot of ass-kicking he got from Laura, he knew that It was majorly his fault, he didn’t get a chance to make amends with his friend, and it looked like he won’t get a chance. Ever.

“There isn’t, not for something this huge, and it’s my life I am putting at risk, it’s my decision, and I’ve already made it” all but yelled Tony.

“Damnit tony, it is not a decision you make on your own, because your death doesn’t happen just to you, what about the people you leave behind, me, happy, Pepper for god sakes. We are the ones who are going to mourn you, we are the ones that are going to be fighting to keep living after you, and we are the ones who we will have to spend the rest of their lives without you. So don’t come in here and bullshit me about it being your decision on your own, it not, it’s mine too and happy’s too, and Pepper too.” Yelled Rhodey, face red from anger and fear.

Silence reigned in the room.

Tony looked away trying to hide his tears but did not quite managed to succeed.

“I’m sorry,” he simply said.

“Tony no, No” pleaded Rhodey “I just got you back, please. Don’t do it”

Not caring anymore who saw him cry, Tony was looking at the screen-at Rhodey, with tears streaming down his face, but expression still determined.

“Contrary to another popular belief my ego is not so out of control as to endanger or jeopardize the lives of others,” Tony said, words cutting and direct.

They seemed to hit their aim, as Rogers and Romanoff flinched slightly.

“My life is not more important than anyone else, let alone billions if not trillions of other alive beings throughout the universe” he continued speaking to Rhodey.

Anger faded, only to be replaced by pure grief.

“Why does it always have to be _you_ , why are you always sacrificing yourself for the sake of others, why?”

Tony did not know how to answer that.

“Goodbye Rhodey” he whispered, “I love you”

Tony raised his hand in front of his face, full on display to the other to see.

And snapped his fingers.

The video cut out.

A shockwave and a loud boom coursed through the whole universe, felt by everyone.

The silence was deafening.

 

 

 

A yell here.

 

A scream there.

 

 

 

Voices rose from all around them.

Steve, Bruce, Thor, Clint, Okoye, Shuri, Natasha and Rhodey all ran towards the floor to ceiling windows and what they saw brought some of them to their knees.

People were appearing all around the castle.

They seemed to reappear out of thin air; one moment there was nothing the next there was a person.

“Brother?” whispered Shuri as she saw a familiar shape coming out unsteadily from the canopy of the forest in the distance.

Okoye cursed and ran from the room to get to her king.

Rogers followed quickly, the name of Barnes falling from him as he ran away.

Clint and Natasha looked at each other before they ran out of the room, no doubt trying to make contact with Clint’s wife and kids.

Bruce got out giving a hand in wherever he is needed.

Only Rhodey and Thor stayed in the room, staring at the blackened screen.

A big hand came over Rhodey’s shoulder, and that simple gesture broke the man as sobs shook his body.

“He was an honorable and brave man, perhaps the bravest of us all, one of the finest warriors I have ever had the pleasure to fight alongside with. We all will forever be in his dept.” Thor’s deep voice said with sadness and grief painting his voice.

Rhodey nodded. Not able to say anything.

After getting himself together, he faced his teammate.

“You have a promise to keep Thor. Bring the others back here and then go check on your people. And come back here, Asgard may be gone, but you have a home here, Tony would’ve wanted you and your people here amongst friends. So you get your people and you come _back_ you hear me”.

Thor looked at Rhodey with surprised Gratefulness before he shook himself and straightened.

“Aye”.

He promised before he went outside to teleport to titan using Storm Breaker.

Rhodey could not feel anything but grief and utter sadness.

They had won, yes.

But at what price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought i'dd add this, i am absolutely not satisfied with it but whatever. 
> 
> i really hope you enjoy this.

 

 

 

Peter opened his eyes to a reddish sky, several moons painted it with a light blue glow.

He felt groggy and disoriented and frowned at the sky, it was all wrong.

‘This isn’t earth’ thought Peter before everything came back to him in a single wave.

He gasped and frenziedly got up from the ground looking around him frantically, fear coursing him as he checked his body.

Was he still whole?

Oh, god he did not want to disappear again.

He looked around. Only to be met with a lifeless desolated planet, rubble of a long dead civilization and no sign of his friends.

No sign of Mr. Stark.

“Mr. Stark” he yelled, as he kept looking around getting more and more scared at the silence that met him.

The only sound that was there was that of the alien Wind.

“Please, Mr.-… Tony please” Whimpered Peter as he clutched his head and fell to his knees.

“I am scared …please,” he pleaded swaying his body forward and backwards.

“Please” he begged.

Nothing.

He was alone.

Tears pooled up in his big brown eyes, and he let them out, he sobbed at the unfairness of it all, he cried at the loneliness and at his fate, he cried for the guardians and for Mr. Stark.

He cried for his friends back on earth, and for May.

He cried and cried and cried.

His sobs were the only thing breaking the utter windy silence that had long plagued the Red Dead Planet.

*Boom*

Peter raised his head and looked around.

*Boom*

*Boom*

*Boom*

Three successive explosions of light came from where Peter had appeared dozens of minutes ago.

As the light receded, he could see human like shapes coming into form.

He squinted his eyes and they promptly widened when one of the figures was wearing a red familiar movie cape.

“Dr. Strange” Peter did not feel himself yell the name of the man, but he did.

He was familiar.

Peter took off running with all his strength and as he approached, he could see the other people that had reappeared too, Quill, Drax and Mantis, but Peter did not stop to greet them he kept on running and lunged at Strange clutching him in a desperate hug as he buried his face in the taller man’s neck.

“Oh god, you’re _here_. You _really_ are here. _Please_ be here. I- I woke up and there was no one, and I was so scared that I was going to die here alone, with no one, and Mr. Stark is gone, and I felt him. I felt him when I was dead and I think he did something to bring us back, but now he is gone, and you came back. You came back. Please don’t leave me here. I want to go home. Please Mr. Strange.” Rambled Peter, his mumbled voice breaking.

Strange was in shock, one moment he was waking up again looking around Titan, and the next he had a distraught teenager hugging him and holding him for dear life.

Peter felt hesitant hands coming around his back as Stephen returned the hug.

“What happened” Asked a hesitant looking Mantis.

“Thanos won,” replied Drax somberly.

“Where’s Stark?” asked Quill looking around. “I could’ve sworn I saw him,” he said scrunching his eyebrows in confusion.

“I did too” said Mantis.

“And me” added Drax.

Peter extracted himself from an uncomfortable looking Strange and faced the others, eyes red from crying.

“Thanos did win; he used the gauntlet to wipe out half of the living beings in the entire universe, which is why we disappeared”

“then how -?” asked Quill

“Because of Stark” responded Strange.

Peter looked at the doctor with wide eyes. “You knew,” he whispered disbelievingly.

Stephen shook his head.

“I didn’t, not entirely at least. I saw 14 million outcomes and only one of them we had won, the one where Tony Stark had to live, I didn’t know what he was going to do or how he was going to accomplish it, I just knew that he was the key to our victory” he replied Sadly.

Peter’s eyes welled up yet again at the thought of Mr. Stark.

‘God, why do I keep losing them’ he desperately wondered in his head.

“Okay can somebody please tell us what did Stark do.” Prompted an irritated Peter, no doubt wanting to get the rest of his team back.

Peter took a deep breath and looked at them steadily.

“Mr. Stark with the help of Nebula, went after Thanos after we disappeared, they followed the trace of the fluctuation of power that the gauntlet was emitting, when they arrived they found him wounded but no less dangerous, they fought him and they won. Mr. Stark then took the gauntlet and undid what Thanos did, thus saving half the universe and bringing us back” Despite the tears, Peter could not help but feel pride for his hero, friend, mentor and father figure.

The others looked away as fresh tears streamed down the young man’s cheeks.

They too felt the telltale of emotions overwhelming them.

Star-Lord felt himself blinking the tears away at the thought Gamora.

She was dead.

Thanos had killed her.

Now, he was dead. ‘Take that you giant wrinkled testicle’ he thought viciously.

“How do you know all that, you were here with us the whole time” said Quill.

‘Yeah how do i know all that’ wondered Peter to himself.

“I think Mr. Stark told me, whenever we were after we died, I think before we were brought back I saw him and he spoke to me, and told me what was going on, I think he was saying his goodbyes” Peter said the last part in whisper as the severity of the dream meant.

Why couldn’t he remember him?

If Mr. Stark said his goodbyes, peter wanted to remember them.

He needed him. Please god please.

“You think?” Drax asked, and shook him out of his reverie.

“Yeah, it feels like when you wake up from a dream, and you know that you’ve dreamt about something specific but the more you think about it the more you forget it, you know”

The others nodded.

“How are we going to get out of here?” asked a sad Mantis.

As soon as she said it a loud bang came from their right, where an intense beam of light formed and instantly ceased revealing a giant blond man holding a big wooden ax towards the sky.

“Thor?” asked Strange.

“Oh not him again” whined Quill from behind.

“Oh it’s Thor, Drax look it’s Thor,” exclaimed Mantis excitedly as she jumped from excitement.

“It’s the Pirate Angel, you ugly thing” he corrected her and peter did not know if he was joking or not, but he was somewhat offended on behalf of Mantis, she was not ugly.

She was _cute_.

_‘Really parker? Now is not the time to check out people’_ he shook himself.

Relief painted Thor’s handsome features as he spotted them.

“Friends, ‘Tis a joyous moment, to see all of you returned to us from death” he exclaimed as he gathered Mantis and Drax in a hug, before he moved to Peter and Strange who were too shocked to do anything but giving.

_‘Those are some nice muscly arms’_ Thought peter. _‘Oh god, Not Now Parker’_

“Thor what are you doing here?” Asked Dr. Strange as he finally was released from Thor’s embrace.

Peter on the other hand wanted to melt into the god’s embrace and burry in face into the man’s chest and just forget everything around him.

‘ _Parker’_

He took several steps back from Thor.

“It was Anthony who sent me here”.

Peter Perked up. “Mr. Stark is alive?” he asked hope crashing through him in deadly waves.

Thor’s whole demeanor changed.

“Unfortunately our Shield Brother is most likely dead.”   

“most likely?” asked Quill.

“Aye, the man of iron made contact with us in Wakanda and spoke to us through a hologram, he used the gauntlet. No mortal could survive that much power, but I can’t confirm it to you because the call got cut out before we saw anything, and the next thing we knew, people started reappearing left and right, and I came here to escort you back to earth, before I go look for my people.”

“I thought you said they died,” wondered Mantis.

“They did, but Anthony told me that he would try getting them back too, so as soon as I drop you off on Midgard I’ll go back to the last place I saw them to see if he succeeded in his honorable task” Thor replied

“I think he _did_ ,” answered a tired Strange.

Thor looked at him with wide eyes desperate for confirmation.

Stephen sighed, “When you came to earth a couple of months ago, I had cast a spell on your unsuspecting brother to keep track of him so that if he ever came back to earth I would know. However a couple of weeks ago the connection I had with him snapped suddenly, I knew he had died, I am sorry about by the way, but _now_ I can feel that connection again. So I think that Stark _did_ manage to bring your people or at the very least your brother back.”

Thor closed his eyes to keep the tears he felt from falling.

And he prayed.

He prayed to the Norns to guide him and his people.

****_“Þaðan koma meyjar_  
margs vitandi   
þrjár ór þeim sæ,   
er und þolli stendr;   
Urð hétu eina,   
aðra Verðandi,   
\- skáru á skíði, -   
Skuld ina þriðju;   
þær lög lögðu,   
þær líf kuru   
alda börnum,   
örlög seggja.”

He prayed to his fallen Shield brother.

“Thank you my friend Anthony, I shall be forever in your dept. I swear on my life and that of my people that I will protect your loved ones with my life. I will see you in the halls of Valhalla someday, we shall drink mead and laugh, cry and love, I cannot wait to embrace you with all my might, for I, shall cruelly miss you. Goodbye my friend, your sacrifice will be known to everybody across the nine realms, I will make sure of that.”

When he finished, Thor sighed and opened his blue eyes. The others were looking at him with sadness painting their tired faces.

“Let us go now, your friends and families awaits you back on Midgard”. He commanded not wanting to talk further about Tony or his people.

The others simply closed in on Thor wordlessly before the God Raised Storm-Breaker and another Beam of light enveloped them.

Titan, the long deserted Red Planet returned to its state once again.

Deserted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love 
> 
> Comments are Life. 
> 
> have a great day.


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

 

Steve was running, he was running like he never ran before in his entire life, he passed people like a damn lightning bolt, he ran and ran and ran towards the canopy of the Wakandan forest.

The only thought reigning on his brain was _Bucky_.

He needed to get to him.

His Best-friend.

The one that a couple of minutes prior was _dead_ , he was dead.

Only now he was returned to him by non-other than Tony.

_‘I am so sorry Tony_ ; _I wish I had been a better friend to you’_

Steve ran through the forest like an Icebreaker Ship, the only sounds his single tasked brain could perceive were of the rugged breath he was emitting; sharp branches hit his face on multiple occasions, some slicing his skin with the sheer force of his speed.

But he didn’t care.

He didn’t stop.

He just _Ran_.

He needed to find his friend.

His past.

His future.

Himself.

The one person that still holds the key to a Steven Grant Rogers that was not tainted with darkness so deep that he felt a like a completely different person.

A person he did not like in the least.

A person that had betrayed his _friend_.

A person that had hurt people.

Someone he no longer cared for being.

Someone that his Ma’ would have slapped across his face if she ever saw him.

Someone who gave up on himself.

He needed him back.

He needed James back.

_‘God please.’_

“I _need_ him, God,” he screamed to no one and kept on running.

Steve was panting while he ran towards the last place he saw his friend, before he disappeared. like Tony had said before he used the Gauntlet.

_‘Oh, god Tony, I am so, so sorry_.’

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When he arrived, he looked around him heart hammering at his chest not finding anyone.

“BUCKY!” he yelled desperately.

Turning around and kept looking frantically.

“BUCKY!” he yelled again.

He felt tears stream down his face, tears that fell without his permission, but he didn’t care anymore.

 Bucky is somewhere around, he has to be.

He had to find him.

_‘What if he isn’t?’_ a treacherous voice whispered in the back of his mind.

“No, no, _no_ ” he kept on denying.

“I just saw T’Challa on my way here, he came back, why wouldn’t _Bucky_ , come back,” he mumbled to himself and he knew he sounded crazy, he knew that but he was way passed that point of self-awareness.

He passed his hands through his wild golden hair clutching it tightly in an unforgiving grip to try and keep himself from falling apart.

“Please, Please _, Please_ be here, come back to me buddy, _please_ ” he pleaded and he felt his knees give out as he fell towards the grassy ground.

“I _need_ him Tony, _please_ ”

A sob.

“I can’t go _on_ with-without him _God_ ,”

“Please, I don’t have the strength to lose him again” he pleaded with small voice.

Steve was only met with silence as the wind sang through the thick foliage of the Wakandan flora.

He sobbed and _sobbed_ and let out a broken cry as he felt the last of himself break.

He fell completely on the ground with a hard thud.

He felt himself give up, sobs shook his whole body.

His big hands covered his once again smooth face to shield him from the cruel world he was living in.

He lost every last person he loved.

Bucky.

_Tony._

Buck.

_Bucky_.

He laid there on the forest floor for what felt like years but what was probably only a couple of minutes at most when he felt someone crouching next to him and a cold hand removing his hands from his face.

“Come on _Punk_ , let me see those baby blues of yours” said a familiar gruff voice.

Steve’s eyes flew wide-open looking wild as they fell on the grey stormy eyes of his best friend.

“ _Bucky_?” he asked, voice small.

“In tha flesh” he acquiesced before he looked at his shoulder and back at Steve, “well mostly” he shrugged and a side of his mouth quirked upwards in mirth.

Steve surged towards his friend and enveloped him in the biggest tightest hug he could muster.

“Oh god, you’re here, you’re _really_ are here,” he said with wonder as tears streamed his tired looking face.

He framed his best friends head between his big hands and looked at him with all the emotions and feelings he felt for the man since they were teenagers.

And from the widening of Bucky’s eyes, Steve’s face displayed them perfectly.

Before Barnes could even say anything Steve crashed their lips together, hard and desperate, as if trying to convey all of his feelings with just this one gesture.

A kiss of a dying man finding his solace.  

Bucky was stock still, lips unmoving, and Steve was just about to retreat, defeated and guilt ridden when Barnes began kissing him back, and it was glorious.

They kissed for their Love.

They kissed for their Loss.

They kissed for their Past.

And they kissed for their future.

But most of All they kissed for an Unbroken James Buchanan Barnes and an Untainted Steven Grant Rogers.

It was liberating, it felt like a fresh air after a stiflingly humid warm air.

It felt like the first sip of fresh water that streams through a parched throat.

It felt _Right_.

It felt like something clicked and they finally belonged In the Present.

Bucky was the first one to pull away, eyes full of love and wonder.

“Wow”. He exclaimed breathlessly.

Steve let out a happy laugh that came out more like a Sob.

“Yeah, Wow”

Bucky’s hand carted through Steve’s Golden Silky hair and brought their forehead together.

“I Love you Stevie, I love you till beyond the damned line” he said voice full of emotions.

Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing, what he was experiencing, but one thing he was sure of, is that this moment is _his_ , _Bucky_ Is _his_ and he’ll never let go, Not _ever_ again.

“I love you too James, and I think we can safely say we went above and beyond the line” he laughed but the words rang the truest they ever did.

They both fell into relieved and happy giggles as they clawed at each other, neither wanting to stop touching the other.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“I Can’t believe it only took you me practically dying three time to finally make a move, Punk” Bucky Broke the silence that had settled as they laid on their backs next to each other hands intertwined basking in each other’s presence and watching the soothing dance of the dense Wakandan foliage with the windy breeze.

Steve Snorted and squeezed the warm hand that was laced with his.

“Yeah well, like I had said before, I am the world's expert on _waiting too long_ ,” he replied and turned his head towards his best friend and now _lover_.

Bucky met his gaze and smiled lovingly.

“Not anymore”.

“No, Not anymore.”

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter refused to leave me alone, so i wrote it. 
> 
> and here it is.

 

 

It has been two years since the _Revenants_ , as the world dubbed it, came back.

Two years since Iron Man sacrificed himself for the sake of the universe.

Two years since the Asgardians made Midgard their new Home.

Two years Since Thanos.

The world was still healing.

It speaks about the strength of humanity, about how in the wake of the most devastating tragedy the world -and the universe- ever faced, they still stood tall, proud and unshakable, ready to adapt, ready to move forward, ready to live again.

And they _did_.

People got back to their jobs, their families, their homes, their _lives_.

They moved on, but they never forgot.

Edifices of Tony Stark and Iron Man, popped everywhere around the world.

However, for some, the moving on took a more difficult path.

In her Grief of a lost fiancée, Pepper Potts, the CEO of Stark industries, turned towards their best friend a certain James Rupert Rhodes, who still mourned his late brother, they started seeing each other, and fell in love again.

They announced their engagement to the world on the second anniversary of the _Come Back_.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After making sure her father was truly and utterly dead, and after The Iron Stark used the gauntlet, Nebula went to Vormir to pick up her sister, she had made Stark promise her to bring her sister back too.

He had kept his promise.

The reunion with the Guardians was heartfelt; it also was the first time Nebula felt like she truly belonged, as if she had a family of her own.

Quill decided to stay on earth for the foreseeable future, wanting to get to know his home planet after almost three decades away from it.

The Guardians not having anywhere else to go decided to stick around too.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Barton and Laura had amicably divorced, too much had happened between them, for them to salvage any semblance of marriage, so they split, but they will always, _always_ be a family.

A week after the Divorce paper officially went through, Clint asked his best friend on a date.

 “You certainly took your time,” she said smiling shyly and happily.

He returned officially as an Avenger, and split his time between the team and his kids.

Natasha was still Natasha, but with an ease and happiness in her gait that she had not had before, seems that Barton was good for her and she knew about the ring that Clint was hiding in the compounds vents.

She already knew the answer, and she could not wait.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Sam elected to stay as a Part time duty wanting to keep his job as a counselor for veterans, he had also started dating a certain Sharon Carter on and off, to the utter amusement of Steve.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The U.N had granted Thor’s request of asylum, allowing him and his people to become officially part of earth.

A collaboration between Thor, S.I and Norway had engendered a sub-country within the Nordic sovereign state called New Asgard, its population counted 2839 Asgardians and other non-Asgardians.

Thor and Loki both co-reigned over their new home.

They were both part time Avengers, splitting their time too between the team and their people.

Heimdall chose to return to his old duty as a watcher of the realms, only this time as a watcher for earth, his new home.

Valkyrie had managed to rope both Thor and Loki in a three-way relationship with her, and was working avidly and near succeeding in bringing her two kings together , romantically, with each other.

 

 

* * *

 

 

T’Challa took back his place as King of Wakanda as soon as he returned not wanting to keep the burden on his little sister any longer than she had to.

He married Nakia in a sumptuous African wedding attended by every Avenger, friend and ally.

He also officially joined the Avengers as the Black Panther, and with Nakia taking some of his royal duties, he managed to balance the two parts of his life quiet effectively.

A year after the _Come Back_ , T’Challa had had a Statue of Tony Stark and Iron Man erected in the middle of the Wakandan city in the memory of the fallen hero, the man he had considered an ally but hadn’t had the opportunity to befriend like he had wanted to, to the great despair of the king.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Shuri lost a little bit of her cheerfulness after her encounter with one of the black order; she had started her training to become a black panther, Okoye and Ayo took her under their wings.

Her brilliance remained one of the most impressive and most advanced in the world.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Okoye left W’Kabi after yet another fight. She was happily dating Ayo.

‘Best sex of her life’ according to her.

She was also ecstatic when T’Challa told her about the new Starbucks they were going to open soon.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Wanda and Vision married each other in secret, not wanting anyone beside them to know, and went on travelling the world getting to know each other and themselves better.

They were still avengers and when Danger arise, they both came back to stand beside their teammates.

Vision missed Tony immensely, it was the first time in his short life that he felt loss in such a way, it had taken Wanda great effort and great time to sooth the android and help him through the grief.

Wanda too grieved for Tony, she had come to like the man after living with him in the compound, and she regretted their wrong-footed relationship, because she knew that they would have been great friends.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Harley graduated high school and went on to follow his _‘surrogate dad’_ footsteps, and joined MIT, Pepper Happy and Rhodey all were teary eyed when he told them of his acceptance letter.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Peter stopped being Spiderman for over a year, not taking the loss of yet another parental figure well, he retreated into himself and put an end to every relationship that had anything to do with Tony.

He stopped seeing Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, and refused to be in the same room as any of the former avengers, to their great despair.

He just could _not_ bring himself to think of his ‘ _dad’_ any more than he did.

With time, May, Ned and MJ, helped the boy heal and accept the loss of Tony, he began his usual patrol run again, and tried to be a better superhero, in Tony’s name.

After over a year of silence, he swung towards the rechristened Stark Tower, to congratulate Ms. Potts and Mr. Rhodes on their engagement.

His apologize were strongly rebuked by the couple, as they were just happy to see him again. They asked him to officiate their wedding in Tony’s Stance.

Peter Cried, Pepper Cried, Rhodey cried.

It was beautiful.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Bruce remained a part time avenger and resumed his relationship with his former fiancée; Betty Ross.

They had reunited in her Father’s trial on the charges of abuse of power when acting as the former U.S secretary of state.

Most of the evidence shown were sent by an anonym source.

Bruce had a couple suspicions about who sent them.

He was finally happy, but the giant tony-shaped hole next to him still ached.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Steve and Bucky got married six months into their relationship, already knowing what they were to each other and that they will always be with each other, so why not make it official, they said.

They had had a small ceremony attended by close friends.

During his vows, Steve told the others about how a part of his heart will _always_ belong to their fallen Comrade but the rest of it has always belonged to his Bucky, his _husband_.

Bucky, in return, said that if there was anyone in the world worthy of holding part of Steve, it was Tony.

They adopted a brown Labrador with honey colored eyes.

Steve named him shell-head.

Bucky only laughed and kissed his husband.

They All mourned.

They all lost.

They all healed.

And they tried to move on.

..

..

..

..

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Ahmed Alami had awoken at three in the morning as he did every day for the past forty years; he kissed his sleeping wife’s temple before he got out of the comfort of his bed and readied himself for work.

Ahmed and his Wife, Amira, lived in the small Fishing Town of Rockport, Massachusetts, their kids had moved out to Boston so it was only the two of them most of the time.

He worked as an angler, and his wife as a tailor, they lived a modest, but happy and honest life.

He would not change it for the world, not after losing them when the alien took them away from him.

One moment they were all huddled in their cozy living room worriedly following the news about the another alien attack, and the next they disintegrated one by one in front of his, turning to ash, he had sat there for hours stock still brain not knowing what had happened.

Almost Two weeks later they reappeared in the same places they had vanished, they had found him curled on the floor of the living room deep in misery drinking himself to death.

Alami shook himself out of the dark memories and headed for the docks.

His small fishing boat awaited him in his regular spot, Ahmed absent mindedly began entangling the boat from the dock before he climbed in sailed away, using hid brand new sonar - _his kids had pitched in and bought it for him as a birthday present_ \- to sail and look for the most fishful places to throw his fishing net.

He was studying the sonographic on the small screen when something that had not been there a second ago seemed to appear from thin air, something that was definitely bigger than a fish.

It looked almost human like.

It was situated right next to Al-Amira (the princess), his boat.

He had named it after his wife, the love of his life, his better half, the woman who shared his life for 37 years now, and three beautiful kids.

Ahmed scrambled and ran towards the deck of the boat.

He looked at the spot where he roughly thinks the object, the sonar showed, would be.

But the dark sky didn’t allow for much visibility and his light projectors didn’t help either.

Ahmed was about to give up and go back inside when a small dot of light appeared deep in the water and it seemed to be growing as it swam outwards.

A moment later, a naked man broke the surface of the sea, gasping and flailing, not thinking twice about it, Ahmed jumped towards the man and swam towards him, he grabbed him just as the man went limp.

He was quite heavy.

Ahmed swam back towards his boat, the stranger in his arms.

He quickly climbed the boat after he secured a cord under then naked unconscious man’s armpits and around his waist before he lifted him towards safety.

The Stranger was, as he suspected, completely naked, long brown hair and a full wild beard, he looked to be in his early to mid-thirties.

However, what flabbergasted Ahmed was the familiar reactor that was imbedded in the middle of the man’s chest.

The stranger suddenly regained consciousness, coughing water out.

“ _Hey_ , Hey, it’s alright, let it out kid, you’re alright.” soothed Ahmed as he ran his hand in circle on the man’s back.

After the coughs subsided, the stranger looked around him, assessing his surrounding with a weary expression.

“Where am I?” he said voice gruff and almost non-existent.

“Just outside the shore of Rockport, Massachusetts” Ahmed replied as he grabbed a blanket to cover the man, who had started shivering, come to think of it, Ahmed needed to change of his wet cold clothes too.

“Thank you” said quietly the man as he took the blanket gratefully.

“No worries” Ahmed said with a friendly smile.  “Name’s Ahmed Alami” he extended his hand in greeting.

The Man looked at the offered hand before shook it.

“Tony, Tony Stark” Replied the shivering man uncertainly.

Ahmed went still.

He suspected after he saw the reactor, but still.

_“Ya allah_ ” he said in wonderment.

Tony retracted his hand and asked “How long?”

Understanding the question, Ahmed quickly replied “Just over two years”

Stark nodded his head, trying to wrap his head around this.

Seemingly seeing his distress Ahmed Crouched down and put a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“Hey, you don’t have to do _anything_ right now, how about we go back to my place, my wife and I will make you something to eat and you can rest, then and only _then_ you can think about what you want to do, alright son?”

Tony looked up at him brown eyes wide and desperate.

A wave of protectiveness surged through Ahmed, he wanted to hug the man, but was not sure if it would be welcome.

“ _Why_?”

Ahmed only smiled softly.

“Because you save my Amira and my children, you saved the whole world, and if I can do anything to help you, I will do it in a heartbeat, I _owe_ you, the _world_ owes you a great dept., son” Ahmed answered genuinely.

Tony lowered his eyes and nodded.

He stayed silence for a few moment, and Ahmed let him think about it.

“Okay” he whispered.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are love.
> 
> comments are life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously this is getting out of hand.   
> I think i need to stop. 
> 
> guys tell me to stop please.

 

 

_‘I am sorry Tony, he’s my friend’_

_‘So was I’_

_‘Did you know?’_

_‘Don’t bullshit me Rogers’_

_‘Yes’_

 

* * *

 

 

_‘You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge’_

_‘My only curse is you’_

 

 

* * *

 

 

_‘Mr. Stark I don’t feel so good’_

_‘I don’t want to go’_

_‘I’m sorry’_

 

* * *

 

 

Tony woke up gasping, clutching at his chest, trying to shake the nightmares off.

“God damnit” he swore after the panic receded a bit, and his heartbeat went back to normal.

His nightmares had become less and less frequent, especially these last few months.

He would wake up once or twice from one every week, compared to every night before.

He looked at the clock on his bedside table.

6:08 am

Tony groaned and fell back on the damp from sweat pillow.

Just as he did so, someone knocked on the door before they opened it.

It was Mr. Salmani.

“Hey kid, you’re alright?” he asked Tony with concern set in his Middle Eastern features.

Tony nodded and sat up on the bed.

“I’m good, just you know, _nightmares_ and all,” said Tony tiredly as racked a hand through his sweaty hair, clearly still shaken from his dreams.

Ahmed sat down next to Tony on the bed and put his big arm around Tony’s shoulder in a comforting manner.

Which is exactly what Tony needed at that moment, and from the way Ahmed tightened his hold, he knew it too.

The Salmani’s had all but adopted him into their family since he got back, Almost a year ago.

“You know, Amine used to have nightmares too after he came back from Iraq, he couldn’t go a night without having one” The man said in a fatherly tone, trying to comfort Tony

Tony sighed and nodded before he put his forehead on the man’s shoulder “Yeah he told me the last time he visited.”

Amine is the Eldest of the three children Ahmed and Amira had, he is a 34-year-old veteran, big tough looking, burly man, and the _biggest_ softy Tony has ever met.

He lives in Boston working Constructions, but frequently came back to town to visit, though he started making the trip more often after Tony all but became his surrogate ‘little’ brother.

The middle kid, Sanaa, is a feisty 31 year old -the same ( _new_ ) age as Tony- district attorney that reminded Tony of Pepper, she made a name of herself despite the drawbacks of being a brown colored Muslim woman in a white patriarchal society.

And last but not least Sarah a 27 year old stay at home mom also living in Boston with her Cop husband Chris, an Army Vet, and their little 4 years old Sam, the most adorable kid in the entire world, who thought the world of tony to the latter’s utter amazement.

Tony was honored.

Ahmed shook Tony out of his reverie and clapped him in the back.

“Come son, Amira made you breakfast, and you don’t want to keep her waiting”

Tony looked back at him in surprise.

“What _why_ , Isn’t today the first day of Ramadan?” and Tony _knew_ it was, because they had started preparing for the holy month for a couple of weeks now.

Ahmed nodded “Yes it is, son.” before he stood up.

“In this house we believe in that everyone has the right to choose what they believe in as long as it doesn’t harm or interfere with other people’s lives,” he continued.

“So Amira and I may partake in Ramadan and Fast from sunup till sundown, doesn’t mean you should too, plus you _know_ how much she loves being a mother hen, _Allah_ bless her pure heart” Ahmed said the last part with a small wistful smile.

One of the first thing Tony had noticed when he first moved in with the Salmani’s was how much Ahmed and Amira loved one another, it was humbling to see the amount of care and respect they had for each other“

Tony let out a little laugh “She’s the _best_ ”

Ahmed looked at him with pride for his wife pouring out of him “That she is, son. _That_ she is”

 

 

* * *

 

 

After a heartily _delicious_ Breakfast, Tony readied himself for work.

He shaved his face smooth as he did every day since he came back, apparently De-aging by a decade and a half and losing the goatee made him unrecognizable, who knew.

Only the Salmani’s and Chris knew of his _true_ identity.

But here in _Rockport_ he was Anthony Edwards, the _best Mechanic in Town_ , or so the T-shirt Sanaa had offered him the last time she came to town said.

It was a simple life, and _yes_ sometimes it got boring.

However, for the _first_ time, in what felt like his whole life, Tony was finally and _truly_ happy.

He had friends, he had a surrogate _family_ , and he got a job that he loves.

The first week had been _tough_ , all he wanted to do was go back to Pepper, Rhodey, and _Peter_ , but at the same time, he was _tired_ of that life, he was tired of always being the one to sacrifice himself, he was tired of being the universe punching back.

So he had decided to check on his friends first before he decided whether he went back to them or not.

In the end, he did not go back.

He just couldn’t, they were all moving on with their lives, they were all happy.

Pepper and Rhodey got married for god sakes, to say he had been shocked and hurt would be the understatement of the year.

He had drank himself into a stupor to ease the pain, but Amira and Ahmed being the amazing people they are helped him move on without the use of alcohol, something foreign till that day to him, it did help that there wasn’t a drop of alcohol in the whole house, being Muslim and all.

He still loved Pepper, and he always will, but she was _happy_ with Rhodey and he will not ruin that for her or for Rhodey for that matter, and Tony truly believes that the man deserves Pepper more than Tony ever did.

So he stayed.

Ahmed and Amira had strong-armed him into moving in with them, as soon as he told them his decision of not going back.

Now he was Anthony Edwards, the adopted son of the Salmani’s as the townsfolks jokingly refer to him.

Tony did not mind at _all_.

He had started dating again, but it never went anywhere.

Tony had also developed a massive crush on Amine and from the amused look on the man he suspected it he knew.

His treatment of Tony never changed, he still hugged him when he came back and held him tight when the nightmares got bad, he still called him frequently to talk about anything and everything, and he still acted like Tony’s big _big_ brother.

Tony loved him for that.

And Tony- _lonely child at heart that he is_ \- learned how to be a brother too, he learned how to be a _son_ again, and how to be an uncle.

But most of all, and for the first time in his life, he learned how to be _himself_

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Morning Robert” said Tony as he entered the Auto Shop he had been working in for the past 10 months, he had fallen in love with the place as soon as he saw it, it was a cozy looking garage that screamed being taken care of.

All the people who worked here loved It.

It felt like his workshop back in Malibu.

Tony missed his Malibu Mansion.

There was a beautiful Harley-Davidson 1870 parked outside the garage.

‘ _Must be a new client_ ’ thought Tony as he passed it and headed to where he knew his boss was.

Robert was the owner of the Shop and he was one of Ahmed’s best friends, so finding him this job was easy, and him, being undocumented was looked over after he saw Tony’s skill with a wrench.

Business had been blooming, and they had started getting jobs from outer townies.

It made Tony feel proud.

“ _Hey_ , kiddo” replied Robert as he got out from under His 1957 Cadillac, Tony had found it in a dump yard rusting away, he couldn’t help buying and offered it to his boss as a thank you for giving him a chance, to his Boss’s great delight.  

“it’s coming in real nice” said tony as he nodded towards the car, Robert has been relentlessly pouring his spare time into his new car, trying to rebuilt it to its former glory from scratch, sometimes Tony joined him too.

“She’s a _beauty_ alright,” agreed Robert.

“Now, now, don’t let your wife hear that, she’d kill you before she came after me. You know how scary Melissa can get,” joked Tony, faking a horrified face.

Robert chuckled.

“Hey boss, whose Bike is that parked outside?” Tony asked.

“Oh right, I almost forgot” he said as stood towering over Tony wiping his greasy hands on a rag.

“A new client came in a couple of minutes ago, said something about his bike clonking and rattling, I told him that the expert-that means you- will come in shortly, so he’s waiting for you in the common lounge”

Tony raised his eyebrow and smirked “the _Expert_ huh?”

He squealed as he dodge the dirty rag Robert threw at him. “Get out of here, you”

Tony laughed “Boss, yes _Boss_ ”.

Tony made his way towards the lounge with a smile stretching his face.

He really _loved_ his life now.

“Hey man, sorry for the wait, I’m tony” He introduced himself as soon as he saw the leather clad man, facing away from Tony.

The man in question turned around and all the air was sucked out of the room.

It was _Barnes_.

“No worries, th’ name’s James” he said clearly not recognizing Tony.

“They said you were the _expert_ ” he continued giving tony a polite friendly smile.

_‘Do you even remember them?’_

_‘I remember them all’_

“I-”.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love.
> 
> Comments are life.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love.  
> Comments are Life.


End file.
